And why am I batshit crazy? Because I had a bad experience reading EPA websites about CFL mercury and had a significant emotional response to my child's possible exposure? And because I bought a dozen packs of 75W and 100W bulbs and just plan on using them? My house is solar equipped anyways.
About 6 years ago I switched over to CFLs. I dealt with the crappy light quality, flicker, and high failure rate.
Then my wife broke a CFL literally inches from my 2-year old's face. I'm thinking "meh, I played with mercury thermometers as a kid. big deal". But then I read about vaporized mercury (yes, it goes to solid dust when not pressurized but still) and visited the EPA website which, at the time, recommended I replaced the carpet in the bedroom. Not cool. My wife was in a state of panic over the possible mercury inhaled by our 2-year old. We obviously have no idea about how much mercury he was exposed to. I know that eating several fish is probably equivalent to the same amount of mercury, but there is a difference between inhaled dust and food digested by your stomach.
At which point I switched the entire house back to incadescent. And I bought a shitload of 75W and 100W bulbs (probably a 10 year supply). Now granted nowadays I'd just buy LEDs, but cheap LEDs weren't available in 2009-ish.
After that experience and given my stock of incadescents, I'm going to keep using incadescents until my stock runs out. I can afford it and I don't a flying fuck about what others think. I do far more to reduce carbon emissions in other ways.
That said, I'll only buy a small stock of 40W / 60W. LEDs are good enough nowadays that I see myself switching to those (but you never know when you want a cheap lightbulb for a cheap temporary lamp or something).
nVidia device drivers have the complexity of an entire operating system (yes, seriously). Much of the functionality and competitive advantage comes from the software drivers.
I've been on a lot of tours of WWII vessels-- everything from the USS Arizona in Hawaii to the USS North Carolina in North Carolina to the submarine exhibit at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.
I have to say the very best tour I've done was the USS Cobia sub tour in Manitowoc, WI. http://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/
The tour was given by an old WWII submariner (yes, he was old!). It was a far better experience than any other sub exhibit. The sub is in the water and it is quite the feeling to go beneath the water line of a WWII sub.
If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it! Granted that was 12 years ago and nowadays the old tour guides may have either passed or are too feeble...
$2.99 for an HD episode on iTunes. Stop the FUD. I haven't checked, but there are probably other purchase options as well besides HBO/cable subscriptions.
I don't recall the specifics. I thought the IS-95 CDMA had several channels with each using ~ 1MHz of shared spectrum.
Even so, CDMA does use very fine-grained power control. Make the cells smaller and the transmitters reduce their power such that interference with adjacent cells is reduced (and battery life improved, etc.).
One of the core concepts of "cellular" phones is that "cells" enable frequence reuse. Now this has to be carefully done to prevent interference, but in general, decreasing the size of cells will increase capacity. Of course this adds infrastructure cost.
Studies consistently show that your mind doesn't lose focus when talking to passengers in the vehicle compared to talking on the phone. Perhaps because your passengers realize when a traffic situation is momentarily tense and stops talking?
You either didn't learn the very basics of finance in college, or you shouldn't have qualified for a loan in the first place (since your only post-bankruptcy option for buying a BMW and house would be cash or handouts from Daddy).
Dear AC, Thanks for calling me a moron. The GOP candidates around here are all Tea Partiers. I'll change my voting strategy when I see fit. What makes LEDs viable? I would like 1000 lumen output for $50/bulb.
I'm glad you are pretty sure. Since a random Slashdotter is "pretty sure" without making any technical arguments, then I should be pretty sure too. That said, I buy the other poster' arguments about the mercury quickly condensing soon after breakage.
Then let other people repopulate the planet for you because you clearly aren't a parent. I'm not an expert in all areas and others here reassured me that the Mercury vapor condensed soon after breakage. I can tell you that the Tx power of wireless LAN is nothing to be concerned about. But the SAR ratings of cellular phones is not something I want my kid putting next to his head for 4 hours a day.
Several months ago, a CFL broke right next to my 2-year old son. I had the sense to get him out of the room, but not for about 10 seconds.
After much research, I discovered that a CFL has about 4 milligrams of Mercury that is released as a vapor (which is readily absorbed by the body unlike the solid form).
The EPA website's cleanup instructions were vast. They even recommended that all clothing that came in contact with any of the CFL be destroyed. I assumed this also meant the wall-to-wall carpeting in my son's bedroom where he plays.
Do I think the EPA is probably being a bit paranoid? Sure. But this is my son we are talking about during his key mental development years. A little paranoia is in order. Who knows how much mercury vapor he inhaled. Yes, I got rid of the carpet.
I'm personally stocking up on incadescents until LED or Halogon alternatives become viable. BTW-- I vote Democratic ticket and am otherwise pretty liberal.
Slashdot Mirror
And why am I batshit crazy? Because I had a bad experience reading EPA websites about CFL mercury and had a significant emotional response to my child's possible exposure? And because I bought a dozen packs of 75W and 100W bulbs and just plan on using them? My house is solar equipped anyways.
About 6 years ago I switched over to CFLs. I dealt with the crappy light quality, flicker, and high failure rate. Then my wife broke a CFL literally inches from my 2-year old's face. I'm thinking "meh, I played with mercury thermometers as a kid. big deal". But then I read about vaporized mercury (yes, it goes to solid dust when not pressurized but still) and visited the EPA website which, at the time, recommended I replaced the carpet in the bedroom. Not cool. My wife was in a state of panic over the possible mercury inhaled by our 2-year old. We obviously have no idea about how much mercury he was exposed to. I know that eating several fish is probably equivalent to the same amount of mercury, but there is a difference between inhaled dust and food digested by your stomach. At which point I switched the entire house back to incadescent. And I bought a shitload of 75W and 100W bulbs (probably a 10 year supply). Now granted nowadays I'd just buy LEDs, but cheap LEDs weren't available in 2009-ish. After that experience and given my stock of incadescents, I'm going to keep using incadescents until my stock runs out. I can afford it and I don't a flying fuck about what others think. I do far more to reduce carbon emissions in other ways. That said, I'll only buy a small stock of 40W / 60W. LEDs are good enough nowadays that I see myself switching to those (but you never know when you want a cheap lightbulb for a cheap temporary lamp or something).
Or pbs.org Assuming Linux has decent flash support.
nVidia device drivers have the complexity of an entire operating system (yes, seriously). Much of the functionality and competitive advantage comes from the software drivers.
I've been on a lot of tours of WWII vessels-- everything from the USS Arizona in Hawaii to the USS North Carolina in North Carolina to the submarine exhibit at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany. I have to say the very best tour I've done was the USS Cobia sub tour in Manitowoc, WI. http://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/ The tour was given by an old WWII submariner (yes, he was old!). It was a far better experience than any other sub exhibit. The sub is in the water and it is quite the feeling to go beneath the water line of a WWII sub. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it! Granted that was 12 years ago and nowadays the old tour guides may have either passed or are too feeble...
$2.99 for an HD episode on iTunes. Stop the FUD. I haven't checked, but there are probably other purchase options as well besides HBO/cable subscriptions.
I don't recall the specifics. I thought the IS-95 CDMA had several channels with each using ~ 1MHz of shared spectrum. Even so, CDMA does use very fine-grained power control. Make the cells smaller and the transmitters reduce their power such that interference with adjacent cells is reduced (and battery life improved, etc.).
One of the core concepts of "cellular" phones is that "cells" enable frequence reuse. Now this has to be carefully done to prevent interference, but in general, decreasing the size of cells will increase capacity. Of course this adds infrastructure cost.
Dude, go smoke some pot or something. You are way too angry for your own good.
Studies consistently show that your mind doesn't lose focus when talking to passengers in the vehicle compared to talking on the phone. Perhaps because your passengers realize when a traffic situation is momentarily tense and stops talking?
You either didn't learn the very basics of finance in college, or you shouldn't have qualified for a loan in the first place (since your only post-bankruptcy option for buying a BMW and house would be cash or handouts from Daddy).
The carpet was shot anyways ;-)
I probably got that information here: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/
Perhaps I was mixing up the guidance found here: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/
Sure thing: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/
Dear AC, Thanks for calling me a moron. The GOP candidates around here are all Tea Partiers. I'll change my voting strategy when I see fit. What makes LEDs viable? I would like 1000 lumen output for $50/bulb.
Thanks, I didn't realize it condensed right away. That definitely reassures me. Now to convince my wife!
Thanks. I didn't realize it condensed right away.
I'm glad you are pretty sure. Since a random Slashdotter is "pretty sure" without making any technical arguments, then I should be pretty sure too. That said, I buy the other poster' arguments about the mercury quickly condensing soon after breakage.
Then let other people repopulate the planet for you because you clearly aren't a parent. I'm not an expert in all areas and others here reassured me that the Mercury vapor condensed soon after breakage. I can tell you that the Tx power of wireless LAN is nothing to be concerned about. But the SAR ratings of cellular phones is not something I want my kid putting next to his head for 4 hours a day.
I hope you aren't an adult based on your response. (Yes, I am a Dr).
Hey AC, do you have kids?
Yes, my new carpet is hand-tufted all-natural Wool. Thanks for questioning that.
Like I said, there is a huge difference between mercury in the solid form and mercury in the vaporized form.
Several months ago, a CFL broke right next to my 2-year old son. I had the sense to get him out of the room, but not for about 10 seconds.
After much research, I discovered that a CFL has about 4 milligrams of Mercury that is released as a vapor (which is readily absorbed by the body unlike the solid form).
The EPA website's cleanup instructions were vast. They even recommended that all clothing that came in contact with any of the CFL be destroyed. I assumed this also meant the wall-to-wall carpeting in my son's bedroom where he plays.
Do I think the EPA is probably being a bit paranoid? Sure. But this is my son we are talking about during his key mental development years. A little paranoia is in order. Who knows how much mercury vapor he inhaled. Yes, I got rid of the carpet.
I'm personally stocking up on incadescents until LED or Halogon alternatives become viable. BTW-- I vote Democratic ticket and am otherwise pretty liberal.